The present invention relates to holders for articles whose height above a floor or other surface may be varied as desired, and more particularly to a tray which may be suspended from a ceiling by means of a collapsible column.
Ceiling-suspended devices of varying types are known in the prior art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,711,021 to Tantillo discloses a holder for articles which may be suspended from a ceiling by means of a telescoping rod assembly such as a collapsible column. However, the sliding column members of Tantillo are only frictionally engaged, so that the holder supports very little weight if the column is not fully extended. A similar device, but including a counterweight, is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 675,861 to Marquart. Another ceiling-suspended tray, but lacking easy adjustability in height due to the use of a set screw to maintain the relative positions of the telescoping rods, is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 2,830,707 to Schmidt et al. A similar lack of easy longitudinal adjustability is found in U.S. Pat. No. 3,033,628 to Hoffman, wherein a series of locking nuts must be manipulated to adjust the telescoping rods.
Latch mechanisms of varying kinds are also illustrated in the prior art, but lack the convenience and ease of operation of the latch mechanism incorporated into the present invention. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,804,355 to Uroshevich illustrates a collapsible stand which is suitable only for very light objects and which is adjustable only by means of a spring-loaded pin mounted in the side of the column. Such a design would be unsuitable for a ceiling-mounted tray due to inaccessability of the pin. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 2,016,132 illustrates an elaborate and prohibitively expensive latch mechanism for raising and lowering a stool, having an external handle for engaging a latch in a recess located internal to a telescoping column.